Revolution
by Shadray
Summary: The city of Erring suddenly morphs into Endiness and a group of graduating high school students find themselves entangled in a binding plot. Can you say mischief abroad?
1. Default Chapter

Revolution by Shadray

Disclaimer- I don't own Legend of Dragoon or any of the characters or other things from it. I do, however, own this fanfiction and all of its contents. So, um…yeah. >.>;;;

Author's Notes- Alright, first new story of the year! Well, actually, second, if you include Broken Alliance.

Hopefully, if you all are good and my updating doesn't suddenly hit an all-time low, you will receive regularly updated chapters! Almost. Although I probably shouldn't have said that. And now…our featured presentation. Pretty proud of the story (even if I'm not so sure if it's my best work), so drop a review if possible.

And also, if any of you have played Final Fantasy X, I would recommend you read the great collaborated fic that a few other authors and I have just written. Very well-written, and really good, if you ask me! (Pen name: Crazed Unit). It should be online by now, so drop us a comment or review if ya will. Called Broken Alliance. Check my author's profile page for more info.

And with no further adieu, the fic please? (points below) My main character is already bothering me by asking why I'm going to put him through this whole fic…. (is annoyed) But don't worry about that. He'll have to deal. (grins maliciously)

Enjoy!

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Revolution- Chapter One

Large, towering structures made of mostly modern metal had been built, lining up directly in a well-arranged manner, and stretching out seemingly for miles. Every place in the minute city was reachable by foot, and the sky, everyday, was gray and mysterious because of the large amount of smoke that rose up constantly into the atmosphere from various factories. Old, undersized churches had been replaced with a soaring tower, peering down on the rest of Erring from the area in the very center of the city. Circling this tower was a number of homes which occupied various residents of the city.

The specific home in the corner of the street was unusually quiet, the only noise inside being triggered by five long fingers drumming against the wall. This silence, however, did not last particularly long.

_The Creator Soa dropped a seed from the skies, allowing hope and life to grow on the barren land, later known to all as Endiness. From this seed grew an enormous plant—one that covered an entire region. It continued its massive growth for days, until the tree was sure to be the largest form of life on the planet for the rest of eternity. _

_There were 107 different types of fruit that eventually fell from the many branches of this tree. These different fruits evolved into the 107 races that we have today. Among them—_

Adam flung the book across the hall carelessly. He hadn't even gotten to the fifth paragraph, and it already was beginning to sound like crap. "I was not born from a plant," he said edgily. "What _is _this, a myth?" He fiercely rolled his eyes, his head shaking in obvious pity.

The girl next to him sent him an odd look, as if wordlessly telling him that she highly disagreed with him chucking the book across the hall. "Um…someone spent a lot of time writing that," she pointed out quietly, a faint frown forcing its way on her features.

"I doubt that, really. They probably whipped it up in just a matter of minutes." He shrugged, turning his attention to the door in front of him. The book had not occupied him long enough for the man inside it to stall. "Come on, we're late," he called into the closed room. "We'll be penniless—and will have no lives—if we don't show up at this thing."

The other voice, the softer, quieter, female one, answered this statement. "You should probably give him some more time; he's probably just fixing his tie or something… Besides, we're already penniless…" she pointed out.

"Penniless, yes, but lifeless, no." A small, faint frown found its way across the young man's face. "Besides, the Erring Army won't let anyone in who hasn't at least completed their twelfth year of school these days."

It was true. The new army had been desperately recruiting soldiers for the war—the one that was being fought against the Capalists. It seemed as though people from the Capal Region had been hiding a dire secret from the rest of the planet, and Erring intended to find out what, exactly, it was. Nothing too informational was known to normal people during those times—everyone outside of the small government had to make its own conclusions about what had been going on.

It was true that Adam, like millions of other average citizens, knew very little about the war, but as he had always been a very aware, very alert person (and his father had participated in the war a few years ago), he knew a bit more about it than most people. No one ever questioned this, although there were many people from his school who wondered why he'd want to fight for an army who had been at war for almost unknown reasons. Almost the entire world detested this war, as it seemed for nothing.

Adam, however, was not one of those people.

The last person who had asked him about this particular interest in fighting had ended up running away, hiding his face in shame, and avoiding questioning looks from unknown people staring at him uneasily.

The man was wearing a blue robe and black, reflective shoes. A blue hat sat poised at the top of his head, and his pale, chocolate eyes corresponded with the spiky brown hair that sprouted from the top of his head, making its way to his eyes.

The girl standing beside him was wearing the same attire, her lengthy, auburn hair falling loosely past her shoulders. Her eyes brightly resembled a morning ocean—deep, with a sapphire color.

Adam groaned to her. "Still, it's hard to stand here patiently when Carter's been in there ever since we came, and the ceremony begins in twenty minutes," he continued, drumming his fingers against the wall he was leaning on.

A sudden annoyed voice came from the opposite side of the door.

"You act like I can't hear you," the young man called out in a dry tone. " Just _hold on_."

"As I recall, you said those same words three minutes ago," Adam declared scornfully. "And it didn't work, now did it?" His patience, which he never had much of, was draining rapidly.

"I wouldn't say it was his fault, really," the girl replied quietly. Arienna then shrugged her shoulders. "After all, what else was he going to say? I'm sure we could spare him a few more minutes…"

"Arie, you really are a bit _too_ kind," Adam murmured, shaking his head.

Adam made a loud throat-clearing noise, trying to be heard through the closed door on the other side of the hall. He then shouted clearly in the direction of the doorway. "You're going to have to come out soon, before we run out of time. We _are _walking, after all, you know."

He was ignored.

On the other side of the door stood a young man, also wearing a royal blue robe and black dress shoes. He frowned at the hat that had drifted to the floor helplessly with the movement of his body, and he mentally willed it to magically pick itself up and plop back onto the top of his head.

It stayed put.

The frown deepened.

High school graduation had finally come—and it was about time, really. Four years of constant work and sweat had forced the 18-year-old to grow weary and bothered at the thought of college starting soon.

He sighed and shook his head, emptying his mind of this bothersome reminder, which had been pestering him all month. He checked his watch and blinked, mentally noting that he had less than twenty minutes before the ceremony began.

At the same time, Adam checked his own watch. "_Sixteen minutes left! Let's go!_" he shouted, his fingers still impatiently drumming on the wall from before.

"Thanks, I forgot," Carter muttered under his breath sarcastically, leaving the room.

Arie had hesitantly opened her mouth to say something to the impatient man beside her, but the starting words to her sentence were drowned out by the sudden sound of the creaking door.

It flung open and walking calmly into the hallway was a young man with heavy, black hair falling down his forehead in grouped strands. His pupils' exact color could not be determined; they were dark, like a shadow on a bright day, yet, somehow, whenever someone examined them closely, they seemed to think there was a bit of shining white bordering them. He had lost count of the number of times he'd caught someone staring straight into them, transfixed like a dummy. He looked at the two others standing in front of him oddly.

"Well? What are we waiting for?"

Arie frowned. "Um…we were kind of waiting for you to finish…"

"And it's about time, really," Adam commented dryly, narrowing his eyes at the man in front of him. "Well, you all ready?" His eyes narrowed even more, a threatening look taking place on his features. "You better be."

He was first to trudge down the flight of stairs, his feet slamming down on each creaking step. Carter was quick to follow, and Arie walked lightly behind the both of them, her auburn hair brushing against the top of her back with each stride. When the three reached the bottom of the stairs, a low-pitched, unconcerned voice called out to them.

"Carter. Do you three need anything before you go? It's a long walk, isn't it?"

The 40-year-old man hardly resembled the 18-year-old, with his chocolate, ruffled hair. His face was dark, and his eyes seemed to match, as the young man looked into them with a shrug.

"Nah, it's okay. We're fine." The black-haired man glanced at the two others beside him, who nodded urgently, not wanting to waste another minute of conversing—the electric clock in the corner of the room had been persistent in ticking with every passing second, as a constant reminder that time would not stop and wait for them to catch up.

The man nodded, gesturing toward the front door.

"Go on, then. I have things to do, too," he said gruffly, his hairy face turning away from the three. He had a low, raspy voice that seemed to echo throughout the room when he spoke, although his mouth barely opened. His skin had a very tough texture, and he towered over them, looking down his short, crooked nose.

"Um… Are you sure you can't come with us?" Arie asked politely, wondering if the man knew that his only son would only be finishing the twelfth grade once.

His eyes widened angrily, his lips pursed tightly, as the man gave her a rather nasty scowl.

"No," he said sharply, his short temper rising as he spoke. "Weren't you listening? I told you I had something better to do." He grunted, wrinkling his nose in obvious disgust.

There was an awkward moment of silence, in which Carter smiled uncomfortably. "Err—what _are_ you doing, anyway?"

He smiled shiftily, a slightly quivering finger pointing at the door. "You three better get going, the ceremony starts soon," he said in a shaky voice.

Carter had opened his mouth to say something to his father, but was cut short as he and two beside him were hurriedly ushered out of the house, with one final wave from the man as he slammed the door shut behind them.

"Well," Adam commented, after they had walked a small distance from the house, "wasn't that nice?"

Carter was reminded of Adam's distaste for people touching him when he, sighing, began brushing off the germs on his robe.

This sardonic question was left unanswered, so Adam answered it himself. "Yes. Yes it was," he spat sarcastically. Then he shrugged. "At least we'll almost be able to get there almost on time."

"And I can understand why you're so anxious to arrive on time," Carter said, smiling, once the three were walking up the sloping sidewalk.

"Huh?"

"You _have _been waiting for this moment for longer than any of the rest of us—twenty years old."

"Oh, that's right.." Arie agreed, nodding and remembering that the other man was two years older than Carter, and three years older than she herself.

"Oh, shut up. I've already had enough of that from my folks. Do you know how annoying it is for people to constantly tell you that you shouldn't have started school so late? I've lost count of the people who ask if I got held back," the older man stated, rolling his eyes tiredly. "I could be a millionaire by now."

At this, Arie and Carter exchanged looks. They were both vainly attempting to stifle noticeable laughs.

"It _isn't_ funny."

But his words were lost in the loud laughter protruding from the others' mouths.

"_Millionaire?_" Arie questioned between deep breaths, beaming, as she calmly tried to control herself. Her smile did not fade when Adam nodded his head solemnly with narrowed eyes that glared at her coldly.

"Yeah, that's right. Millionaire. _I_ _could have been rich by now!_" he shouted at full volume, his voice almost echoing.

Various people gawked at him oddly ("What are you starin' at?"), and Carter could have sworn he heard a woman rush her children away, muttering something about teenagers and their antics.

Arie smiled awkwardly. "So..um... Are you guys going to the party afterwards?"

The after-graduation party was one of the most talked-about topics of the entire year for the seniors. It seemed almost as though wherever Carter went in the hallways, there was always at least one person beaming and breathlessly speaking about the upcoming event. He, however, was not quite as interested as the majority of his classmates.

"You mean after the graduation? I guess I'll go if you two do." Carter's eyebrows rose questioningly until Adam nodded. His eyes then fixed on the shorter young woman beside him who had asked the question. "Why? Are you?"

"I guess."

He frowned noticeably. "No, you're coming, whether you like it or not. Besides, what else is there to do?" he asked, his brow furrowing.

There was a silence. Then, she said unfathomably, "Um, look at the sky."

Adam searched her eyes for a sign of this sentence being any sort of joke, but the girl was serious, and she had up at the heavens above her as she said the words. "Err.. Okay… That's…always a fun thing to do," he said uncomfortably.

Carter smiled nervously.

"Well…have you noticed the Moon lately? It's…not the same… I mean…I couldn't have been the only one…?"

This question imposed silence among the group as the schoolyard came into view from the top of the small hill. Adam looked at the darker-haired young man, as if asking what the woman was talking about, but he only shrugged.

"Um.. I guess I _was _the only one," Arie said, smiling sheepishly. The two males were relatively quiet, and she gently added, "I'll have to show you when it gets darker out…"

"_Someone's_ been gulping down one too many drinks," Adam declared, earning him a rightful glare.

"Thanks, Adam, I needed that..."

"My pleasure."

Another glare took place, this one much more disgruntled than the last.

Adam kept quiet.

"Go Arie," Carter grinned, staring at her like she had gained some sort of magical power. "That's all it takes to get him to shut up?" he asked eagerly.

Arie smiled broadly.

_->->-_

The group took almost another two minutes to reach the school, which seemed to stare at them unwelcomingly as they edged nearer to the front doors, which had been propped open. They walked through the empty hallways, blank walls surrounding them on either side.

"My, how colorful this place is…" Arie murmured, glancing around her, aware of the fact that this would be one of the last times she walked through those hallways again.

"No kidding," Carter said under his breath, frowning at the completely austere surroundings.

The good part to all of this, however, was that this was the last time he'd have to come back to the school—he cheered mentally.

The hallway came to an end, and he pivoted on his right leg, leading the way to the spacious auditorium on the other side of the school. They walked in silence through the empty halls, the only sound coming from the clicking of their shoes against the floor tiles and the occasional reminder of "_Walk faster! It's already started!_" from Adam, who had been constantly keeping check on the time.

Soon, they approached two wide double doors, which were flung open by Adam, allowing the other two inside the auditorium. Several dozens of students were sitting in petite, blue chairs on the lowest level, listening to the thunderous boom of the speaker with the microphone standing on a platform at the very front of the room. The seats on this level were separated into two sections, one on the right, one on the left, and a narrow aisle between them led to the front platform. Above them sat the students' friends and families, peering down on the lower level of the auditorium with binoculars, muttering and whispering to each other.

The group slipped quietly inside, only noticed by a few people. The speaker paused, narrowing his eyes at the small group of late students, but soon continued with his speech. Arie turned behind her and, before joining the others and sitting down, grinned to a pack of six people high above her, who waved and murmured excitedly amongst themselves.

"Your family?" Carter whispered as she finally took her seat beside him. She nodded and, after settling in their seats, they fell silent, listening to the man's welcoming speech. He seriously resented the fact that his own father could not make it to hardly any of his activities. He wasn't much surprised earlier that day when he learned that this very father of his would not be arriving at the graduation.

"—These kids have come so far in the last four years," the speaker was saying in a rather monotone voice, "and we are very proud of them. They have been past rigorous courses, finals, and all sorts of other barriers blocking their paths to success. Let's give them a round of applause before we get started—"

Echoing ovation filled the air, and, moments later, died down again, and he continued, nodding his head shortly.

Something very peculiar occurred at this time.

The sharp, black suit the speaker was wearing suddenly seemed to have a very glazed look that stung Carter's eyes. The young man blinked furiously and furrowed his brow, trying to look away from the object—the sting surged passed his eyes and flowed uneasily through the rest of his body, forcing him to jerk forward and slam his knee into the seat of the person sitting in front of him—

"Urgh!" A stout young woman whipped around fiercely, snorting and shooting him a rather disgusted look. She muttered under her breath, rolled her eyes, and snapped her head back in the direction of the speaker, making sure to fling her hair in his face as she did so.

Carter fought his way out of the matted strands and looked back up at the droning man standing on the podium. The sting had faded away slowly, but as his eyes settled on the suit once again, his mouth dropped. _What the hell?_

The suit's jacket was no longer shiny or black, but was dulling to a dead, lifeless color.

He stared, wide-eyed.

The jacket and the pants were merging together, forming one long robe—much more different than the robe he himself was wearing. Long and wide, resembling some sort of religious costume, the gown seemed to gape back at him. His eyes darted downward and froze—the podium had…

_Vanished? _

Nah, couldn't beHe blinked hard, and there everything was, back to the way it was a few minutes ago. Black. Casual. Monotone. Nothing special.

He glanced around the room, but no one seemed to have noticed anything unusual.

Carter leaned to the right, not taking his eyes off the man up front. "What—what was _that_?"

There was a pause.

"What was _what_? I didn't see anything."

He looked up at Adam, wondering what, exactly, had been going on. Adam, however, looked oblivious of the little episode that had just occurred. "You didn't—?"

He growled exasperatedly. "Will you shut up? I'm trying to watch," he said, returning his attention to the front.

Carter shook the wondering thoughts out of his head and looked up at the podium. People were already being called up one by one to collect their diplomas and shake the hands of the school's staff on their way back down. The dull-voiced man on the stage spoke into the microphone in his hand, calling up the first student.

"Kit Arnolds?"

A tall, bony woman with very tan skin was walking across the stage, her blue robe dragging behind her. She grinned and snatched the diploma from his hands, waving it to the crowd excitedly. She did not move until one of the staff members had to shove her off the stage, smiling awkwardly to the people in their seats.

"Daniel Blaring?"

An unsmiling person slouched over to the man with the microphone and grimly took the certificate from him.

"Jane Brone?"

Things went smoothly for a while in this manner, Carter not noticing anything particularly unusual (he was watching very intently). After a while, he gave up, realizing how paranoid he must be to actually believe that the changing of a suit to a church robe was at all possible. Who _cared_, anyway? They were _clothes._ He was almost beginning to feel ashamed that he'd ever believed something like that in the first place—until another very strange thing occurred.

"Hollis Taylor?"

A man strolled to the stand, a broad grin implanted on his face. When he received his diploma, however, this grin faded completely and the object withdrew from his hand. His mouth drooped closer to his chin, his eyes narrowed into a slit-like manner, and wrinkles formed across his face. Slowly, the rest of his body began to morph horribly and, a moment later, a chubby, elderly man with a cane was kneeling on the floor, panting.

Carter gaped noticeably. He shook his head and blinked, not daring to believe his eyes—

And then the young man looked around wonderingly. The people sitting in front of him had turned around to glare at him, as if waiting for him to do something. The black-haired man smiled sheepishly.

A voice whispered harshly in his ear: "What are you _doing_? They just called your name, go _up_." He was shoved forward by Adam.

The short path to the stage seemed like an hour of walking, he realized, as everyone stared impatiently at him. These were the _benefits_ of being one of the last people to go up, the young man thought sardonically. After four small steps leading to the higher platform, he reached the stage and looked out at the crowd of sitting people waiting for him to continue.

Carter walked on as casually as possible, suddenly feeling a rather cold spot in his stomach. He ignored it and smiled contently at the man, who handed him a thick certificate.

He grinned up at Adam and Arie, who grinned back, and was about to go to shake the hands of the staff members to the right of the stage when out of the corner of his eye, a swirling mass of meshing objects caught his attention.

_Damn it, what this time? _he mused, the grin on his face quickly replacing itself with a great glower. He had had enough with these bothersome hallucinations—

But he soon realized that what he'd been seeing weren't hallucinations—something very irregular was happening.

Everything around him soon was swirling about like a heap of clothes in a clothes washer. They all merged together, colors running with other colors, forming one massive spinning circle. Slowly, however, things were going back to normal—

Minus the small little detail that the seats were no longer made of plastic, the students were no longer wearing blue robes, there was no longer any second floor above the first, and, mysteriously, out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed a small window—on the other side of it was a small town being shown, and—even more strange—a colossal, blood-stained object shone in the sky.

And suddenly, he knew exactly what Arie meant when she had spoke of the strange-looking moon earlier on.

The faces surrounding him were different. Nothing was the same—not the stage, not the lights, not the walls—and Carter could only gawk and recoil with very, very wide eyes.

In the exact spot where the man had handed him his certificate stood a different person: Elderly, gray-haired, and wrinkly skin could be seen easily from Carter's viewpoint. He was clutching a cane tightly in his right hand, and as he drew closer to the young man, he utilized it to jab Carter's shoulder hard.

_What the hell? _was the thought screaming through his mind as he frantically dodged another jab from the angry senior.

His head snapped in the direction of the seats in front of him, and the man searched desperately for his friends, hoping for some kind of support. His mouth dropped to the floor—

Neither Arienna nor Adam were anywhere to be found.

The elderly man pointed a bony finger at him.

"Heathen! Take no step closer to King Albert! Or Soa have mercy on your soul."

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	2. Chapter Two

Author's Note- Yes, it took me a while to get off my lazy butt and update this, but I did, that that's what matters. Sorry it took me so long, but I had a lot of things to do. I hope I'll be able to update sooner this time. Thanks for all the great reviews, and I hope I continue to get some this chapter.

Um…yeah. DISCLAIMER! GET OVER HERE! (drags disclaimer over) Oh, I had to get help from a friend for the disclaimer, because, well, I was lazy.

Disclaimer-

_**Da KeR MySteRr:**_ would you like me to be cute and try and convince them to read because I'm beautiful and said so, or threaten them with unimaginable pain if they don't review?

_**Shadray:**_ um...surprise me.

_**Da KeR MySteRr:**_ Ok -flips hair over shoulder and winks- Hey everyone, Shadray worked really hard on this story and I think you should review -pouts slightly- please... Because if you don't -thunder claps and lightening strikes- I will track each and every single one of you down, tie you to a wall, and force you to watch the boobahs while your whipped with glowing necklaces mwhahah  
**_Shadray:_ **O.O  
**_Shadray:_ **-is surprised-  
**_Da KeR MySteRr:_**-smiles sweetly- Yup, they should review now  
**_Shadray:_ **yes. they should. -grins- after reading, of course. so...erm...Enjoy!

Where We Left Off- It's been a while, so I'll refresh your memories. In the last chapter, Carter went to his high school graduation with his friends Arie and Adam. Only, when it was his turn to collect his diploma, both Arie and Adam disappeared, and the world around him morphed into Endiness.

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Revolution- Chapter Two 

Carter opened his mouth to say something but no words came out; he shut it and stared at the scene in front of him incredulously. People wearing long, rather old-fashioned robes stared back, whispering anxiously among themselves and pointing quivering fingers at him.

A man with long, blonde hair, wearing considerably more royal clothes than anyone else, stood close to him and gaped with wide eyes beside the elderly man who was now barking, _"I said stay away from King Albert!"_

Carter was too far in his state of utter shock and confusion to move. He only let his mouth drop open. What was happening? Was this definitely some sort of act, right?

_But then,_ a voice contradicted within him,_ why would all of _that _be different?_

And he knew that the fact that everything surrounding him had morphed into new, stranger objects, could not have been an act. He could only hope he was wrong….

"Stay _away_, I say! Or," the elderly man proceeded in a threatening manner, "you will be _severely_ punished!"

Carter was breathless. "Wh- who are _you_? What happened to—?" But he was at a complete loss for words. This had to be an act for graduation, it just _had_ to…

…right?

A man in a long black cloak snorted from a little while away. He swept from his current position, which, Carter had failed to notice, had been somewhere to his right, and made his way to the three.

His pale, cold, penetrating eyes stared at the confused young man in front of him for a second before he said calmly, "The minister means that you have approached the King in an unworthy manner, and you apparently do not have the sense to sit back down in your seat."

Carter stared at him. "But—what are you talking about? Who—I haven't—"

"But that is not _all _he was doing!" the elderly man interjected, paying no heed to Carter's attempt at a response. "He was surely ready to attack His Majesty! _No_ _one_ stomps up here like that who doesn't have intentions to—"

But the man in green robes, the only person who had not yet spoken, shook his head dismissively. "I am sure he was not going to do anything of the sort, Minister, the young man was _only_—"

"Only _what_, milordPrancing up here with, say, a weapon in his pocket, ready to _kill_ you? I daresay such acts are not tolerated in this church, Your Majesty. What type of service would I be doing Soa if I had let this happen?"

"What? I wasn't doing anything like that!" Carter returned, becoming irritated at the fact that no one cared to listen to what he had to say about the matter, and wondering vaguely just who Soa was. All he had done to end up here was—well—_nothing_, and he did not find interest in the fact that he had been wrongly accused of attempted murder. "I don't—"

"Please, do not lie in my church," the minister interrupted, apparently determined that nothing anyone had to say was going to sway him.

Carter gawked at him, hardly able to believe his ears, his eyes, and, interestingly enough, his own thoughts, for he had the distinct impression that something had gone horribly wrong with graduation ceremony. _What_ was _happening_? And—more importantly—where _was_ he?

"Surely, this is not the case, Minister…. It would, perhaps, be wise for us to proceed with the service, as nothing has gone wrong…."

But Carter, trying very hard not to pay any attention to the several people glaring at him mistrustfully from their seats, had begun to think: What were things like outside? Had the only thing that had changed been this particular building?

He was suddenly determined to find a nearby window to peer out of to clarify this. As weird and unusual as this entire circumstance was, he needed to find out what was going on.

_Or—_he thought, with a sudden jolt of hope—_this _could_ be a dream! Maybe I'm still asleep, snoring in bed, and haven't even gone to the graduating ceremony yet! _And at this idea, a slight smile spread across his face. He would pinch himself—as hard as it was necessary—and would spring upward from his bed and snap his eyes open, relieved that the whole thing was a dream… Yes, it would have to work.

The Minister grunted. "…but how can we be sure that this isn't another warrior from Sandora, if we don't at least interrogate him?"

But Carter had already lifted up his left arm in preparation for his plan. His _true_ graduation would be tomorrow. He raised his other hand and thrust it toward the arm.

"OUCH!"

Every eye warily turned to stare at him at once. The area was engulfed in an exceedingly awkward silence.

"Oh, er, sorry," he said sheepishly, looking around and enduring the anger that had swelled up inside him…. So he _wasn't_ dreaming? He would see about this.

Coming out of his thoughts, he saw the Minister sigh and frown deeply, turning to face him.

"Very well," he groaned, after a few more uneasy seconds of silence, evidently very unhappy that Carter had not been chucked out the window by now, "we shall continue—_only_ under the wishes of King Albert, of course." He gestured warmly to the man in green, who smiled politely in response. "But I would be much more comforted if _you_—" He sent a nasty look at Carter. "—would please take your seat."

Carter smiled politely and slowly walked down the center aisle, but did bother to sit in a seat. Instead, he quietly pushed open the exit doors, slipped outside, closed the doors behind him, swung around to take in his new surroundings—and gasped.

Men and women wearing various attire (some with long robes extending to their ankles; some with strange, battered battle armor of various color and texture; some with strange garments Carter could not recognize at all) were trotting down the streets with much obvious leisure—yet none drove cars, none rode bicycles, and, judging from the expressions on their faces, they looked as though doing this were an everyday routine. Some of them walked by or into numerous shops and homes that were neatly aligned on the edges of the street, connected as though the entire city were one huge condominium.

A glimmering liquid substance sprang from a considerably large water fountain somewhere up the street, and, Carter noted with a sudden jolt in his stomach, no one he knew was anywhere to be seen: not Arie, not Adam, not anyone from his school class, and most definitely not his father. A sudden realization entered Carter's mind soon after this thought, and, no matter how much he wanted to deny it, no matter how insane he felt, he knew, somehow, that it was the truth—

_The region of Erring was no more._

It was strange how one side of him thought he was a lunatic, yet another believed it. It felt as if he was being torn between himself—and himself. It was, perhaps, this extremely odd sensation that forced him to march up to the nearest bystander and find out just where he was, and what the hell was going on.

It took him a while to find someone who would answer to his question, as it seemed as if everyone were too much of a good mood to be concerned with someone saying, "Excuse me, sir—I'm a bit lost, can you tell me where I am?" Oddly as it seemed, almost each and every person in the streets seemed to be in a strangely content humor. Some people were whistling merrily to themselves, while others were laughing or strolling down the street with a particularly joyous strut.

Strange. Why was everyone so damn happy?

Carter was becoming very impatient by the time someone actually took the time to have a conversation with him that didn't only consist of "Hello there! Lovely day!" before they turned the corner or waved him goodbye.

Irritated at the situation, he strode up to a middle-aged man with untidy, brown hair—but this time he wasn't going to let the man get away before giving him, Carter, the adequate information he needed. Before Carter could say anything, however, the man he had walked up to turned around before he could even be asked a thing.

"Oh hello there, my dear friend! How are you this lovely evening?" He grasped Carter's hand and shook it with a painfully strong grip, grinning as if he had been having the day of his life. "Good riddance to those Sandoras, huh?"

It seemed like he was not going to leave without allowing Carter ample time to reply, unlike the four or five others Carter had questioned—which was good.

Carter furrowed his brow, confused._ Sandoras? _There had been a number of things the priest had said back in the church that he did not understand, and the word Sandora was definitely one of them. If he was going to be sent to another dimension, he wanted to at least have a sense of the place; therefore, Carter decided to question this term.

"_Sandora_?" He knew he sounded brainless.

"Uh…" The man peered at him, as if determining whether Carter was pulling his leg or was completely serious in his inquiry. "Don't know what Sandora is? Not from here, are you?"

"Well, no, not exactly…. Or at least I don't _think_ so… What's the name of this town, again?"

"Oh! Well, _that_ would explain it. Why, you're in Bale, son! The safest city under the protection of King Albert!" The man turned around to gesture to the town's features, which he seemed to take a great amount of pride in.

Carter frowned. "Bale? I haven't heard of it," he said, shaking his head hopelessly. Maybe he _was_ in another dimension.

"Well…surely if you were form here you would know that today is to be celebrated, for just yesterday Sandora was liable to take over the thrown of our beloved king…yet our soldiers fended them off. None of us would be here if it weren't for _that_! But still…I would've thought the news of it would have spread to other regions of Endiness…?"

Carter just stared at him. "_Endiness?_"

This time it was the man's turn to frown. "You…haven't heard of Endiness?" he queried slowly.

When Carter shook his head uncertainly, feeling like a fool, the man merely blinked and raised his eyebrows. "Endiness is the name of this planet."

"WHAT?"

The man exhaled, apparently deciding to tackle this problem with another approach. He smiled patiently and asked, "Where _are_ you from?"

"Well," Carter replied, trying hard to keep calm, "I was from a city named Erring, but—"

"Never heard of it! Do you mean Tiberoa? Mille Seseau?"

Carter shook his head to both of these questions.

"Is there area adjacent to Erring that I might know of?"

Carter shook his head again; he knew now for sure what had happened, even if he didn't know why. He inhaled thoroughly before telling the man the truth of his origin.

"I think…I'm from another planet."

And after saying those words, he immediately regretted it—who would believe something like that? It sounded like bull, and therefore Carter would not be surprised if the man fled from his insanity—but he did not. In fact, the man remained completely calm, almost expectant. "You wouldn't be the first one to come to me and say that," he stated contentedly.

"_What?_"

"You heard me."

Carter's eyes bulged. Was the man saying what he thought he was saying? No, surely there could not be more….

"I—don't understand," Carter faltered, shaking his head, and expecting the middle-aged man to explain. But instead of explaining immediately, the man only walked a few paces away and stared at the ground for a moment. He obviously wanted a moment to think to himself, so Carter did not interrupt, but after more than a minute seemed to pass, Carter could not help himself any longer.

"Er…sir?"

"Well! I wonder what's been going on _here_!" he said, shrugging. "Heh. Well, I bet I know who can help you." He pointed up ahead. "You see that house?"

Carter shook his head; unfortunately a group of people happened to be conversing animatedly in that direction, blocking his view. When he pointed this out, the man nodded understandingly and said, "Here, follow me." Carter was calmly led to a home that stood in the middle of a row of neatly connected buildings on the edge of the street.

"A woman is in there; she's kind enough to help anyone who needs it," the man reassured him, beginning to retreat from the area. From afar, he continued, "Unfortunately I, being a traveling merchant, am about to make my way to Lohan, so I can't stay to help you sort this thing out. However I am sure she will be delighted to have company, as her son is devoted to fighting for North Serdio, and therefore no longer spends much time at home. Tell her I sent you to her; she'll understand."

And with that, the man waved a goodbye and swept away.

_->->-_

_Well…let's hope this woman knows something, _he thought tiredly, exhaling, and knocking on the door before him.

After two knocks, a tidy-looking, 45-or-so year old woman cracked the door open and peered at him. She then smiled at him and opened the door fully.

"Oh, hi there. How may I help you, sweetie?" she greeted in a slightly high-pitched and jovial tone, smiling.

"Hello, um…." Carter decided to get straight to the point. "A man sent me to you…he—"

"Did he have brown hair?" the woman asked suddenly.

He nodded, a bit startled. "Yeah."

"Middle-aged?"

He nodded again. "He left for Lohan," Carter explained.

"That's him, alright. My husband," she added at the quizzical look on his face, and she gave him a welcoming gesture and ushered him inside the home. "Here, have a seat, dear." She pulled out a wooden chair on which Carter awkwardly sat.

The house wasn't quite petite, but it most definitely was not large. Most of it was made of wood, as was the furniture inside: chairs, tables, shelves…. In a room in front of Carter was the kitchen, into which Carter could not see, due to his current position. To the left of him was a flight of stairs, which led to a corridor that Carter also could not see, and behind him was the door. He was seated at a table with a cover decorated with various pictures of flowers draped over it.

"I'll go make us some tea," the woman said, sweeping into the kitchen. Carter heard the distinct sound of dishes clinking together and the sink turning on.

"So, when did you arrive here?" the woman called into his room over the sound of the faucet.

"Oh, just now, Miss—?" Carter responded, his feeling of awkwardness increasing. How did this woman already know that he'd been sent here? He didn't remember telling her….

"Call me Mrs. Slambert.

After a moment, she entered Carter's room with a tray that held two small cups of hot tea. Mrs. Slambert placed the cups in the center of the table, and bent over to take her own seat directly across from Carter.

"So, that was your husband who sent me here?" Carter asked, peering into his tea warily, as if making sure there was nothing perceivably wrong with it. He took a sip of it, and as the liquid entered his mouth, he realized this woman was nothing short of an excellent cook.

"Yes, that was Norton Slambert. He's very strict to our son…who is off fighting for Basil—oh! Maybe you'll get a chance to meet him! You seem like a very kind young man; I know you two will get along. He's coming home for a while before setting off again..."

Carter was still pretty confused about the war involving Basil and—what was the name?—Sandora. He decided to gain more info on the subject. "What, exactly, _is_ the war between Basil and Sandora about, Mrs. Slambert?"

She took a small sip of her tea and calmly set it down again before saying, "Well—I could tell you a bit about it, but I'm sure my son knows much more about it than I. Why don't you ask him when he comes? He should be arriving soon."

Carter nodded and thought. He had so many questions to ask, but had to limit himself; he was quite sure that this woman would fling him back on the street if he was too annoying. Well, not exactly, but he still didn't want to push it.

"Okay," he said. "But I have another question."

"Alright," she said welcomingly. "But first, if you don't mind, dear, I should tell you something about this situation. You see, you haven't been the first person to…appear here, magically, shall we say."

Carter gaped. "That's what Norton said!"

"I'm sure it probably was, dear," Mrs. Slambert proceeded. "You see—a few days ago a few other people showed up in Bale too. They were quite confused, and, as I was walking in the streets at the time, they had asked me where they were. I brought them into my house and discovered that their planet, Earth, had—supposedly—morphed into the planet of Endiness." Here, she stopped.

Well, well, well. So there were others… This was something to be remembered.

But why in the world would something like this happen? Were _all_ Earthlings transported there, or were there just a few?

When he voiced this last question, Mrs. Slambert said, "As far as I know, only a few…. Or else, this place would be terribly populated. Of course I'm in no position to know _why_ it happened, or for whom it happened…" She took another sip of tea. "You see, when I was 100 percent sure that my husband, Norton, had sent you here, I knew it could have only been for one reason: you were another person that was magically sent here from Earth."

"Oh," Carter murmured, realizing that, so far, he did not know much more than he did before he entered this house.

"Yes, quite interesting, isn't it? Well, I don't really get out much, so maybe you should ask my son about that too. Or you could ask King Albert sometime later, for I understand he's busy visiting the church at the moment."

"Oh yeah," Carter laughed, thinking back to when he was first sent to Endiness, and remembering the reactions of the green-cloaked man, the black-cloaked man, and the minister. "I'm all too familiar with his visit."

Mrs. Slambert smiled and peered into his cup of tea. "Are you finished, dear?" Carter nodded, and she placed both her cup and Carter's cup of tea onto the tray beside her. She entered the kitchen and put them into the sink, resulting in more clinking noises.

"You seem to have a lovely home, Mrs. Slambert," Carter called from his position in the other room, being as polite to her as she had been to him. "Is there—some kind of job you have, to afford this easily?"

"Well, no, my husband makes a decent amount of money, and, of course, so does Lavitz. Being in the First Knighthood of Serdio does earn you sufficient cash," she replied with in audible sigh. "I normally stay home and perform various chores around the house that they don't have the time to do." She was back now, and she took her seat once more.

"Alright, I understand." But after these words came out of his mouth, Carter suddenly thought of something Mrs. Slambert had said earlier, and he stared at her.

"Is…there something wrong?" She furrowed her brow.

"No—" Carter said quickly, shaking his head. "It's just... you said before that I was sent here _magically_. Are you saying that, in this world, there is such a thing as—?"

She smiled toothily, as if she'd thought he was going to ask something else.

Then, she nodded.

"You mean…magic…_exists?_"

"Of course, dear! Why wouldn't it? It's not known by most people, but there _are_ other planets out there. Some, as said by astronomers here, use magic; some use science; others use a mixture of both. Here on Endiness, of course, magic not only exists, but flourishes. These days, for example, we use all sorts of magic items to attack our enemies, to heal ourselves, and to do a multitude of other things. I'm guessing your planet depends on science, not magic, or you wouldn't have been so surprised. Of course, magic _exists_ on every planet, but it takes millenniums for it to be discovered and/or put to use."

"So, you mean to say that on Earth, there is magic?" Carter asked, wanting clarification almost desperately. "It's just that no one's discovered how to use it yet?" Mrs. Slambert nodded. "Why do you think it hasn't been discovered?"

"Well, I am but a mere woman, but I can guess. Studiers of enchantment tell us that magic comes in an infinity number of forms. I suppose that the magic on Earth is not only _almost_ impossible to find, but also _almost_ impossible to put to use. And even if it were found, which it probably has been, the scientists of your world would most likely not have found it probable that it was magic. After all, a society based entirely on science would find it extremely hard to convert its belief to magic. They say that humans don't like to change their ways, no matter what the evidence is in front of them; I imagine that whoever discovered the magic thought it was some kind of trash, or was unreal."

Of course. What Earthling would ever believe in magic, after being taught all their life it didn't exist? Carter almost felt ashamed of his kind, and he pitied whoever denied the idea of magic.

Still, he himself had been taught that magic didn't exist. He found it hard to believe in it now, even though he was now on a whole other planet. He shrugged; he'd find out for sure soon enough.

Mrs. Slambert leaned in close toward him and said quietly, "Just remember not to tell this to others around here; most people would think of you as an idiot. Only astronomers and a few others understand the concept."

"You…must be right," Carter replied slowly, looking out of a window to his right, which displayed a decent view of the city outside. "Just like no one from Earth would believe in other planets and worlds…no one here would, either."

"Exactly."

Then a question entered his mind. "But then—what makes you believe it?"

She faltered.

"I—I guess the arrival the other people who were magically sent here finally made me realize it was true," she said finally, after a few seconds of thought.

Well, this woman sure was no dummy, Carter thought. He'd been given more information than he could've asked for.

"But this problem of yours, dear—we need to understand more about it. Tell me: what, exactly, happened?"

Carter nodded; of course he would have to tell her more about his arrival, or she would not be able to help. "Well…" he started.

He told her all about his graduation. Of course on Endiness, there was no such thing as a high school graduation, so he had to explain about school. What happened at his graduation wasn't something that was exactly _easy _to explain, since he hardly understood it himself, but he found that his story was finished not too long after it started.

"Hmmmm…. Interesting…" she said pensively once he'd finished.

"Why?"

"Because. Everyone else who I heard from had fallen asleep, and when they woke up—they had turned up here. But you were awake." Mrs. Slambert shrugged, seeming to like the motion. "Well, it's nothing for me to understand; I am but a middle-aged woman."

"But then, who were the other people who showed up here? Do you know their—"

But he was interrupted, as the front door had suddenly swung open. Mrs. Slambert looked up—and, shrieking joyfully, ran over to a young man with short, blonde hair and pale green eyes. He wore green and white armor, and had a very large grin spread across his face. The two embraced each other warmly, as if they hadn't seen each other in quite some time, and Mrs. Slambert turned around to introduce the man to Carter.

"This is my son, Lavitz," she announced proudly, and Lavitz strode over to shake Carter's hand with an almost painfully firm grip. "Lavitz, this is—"

She suddenly looked stunned. "Why, I've been talking to you this whole time and haven't even learned of your name!"

"Oh, sorry about that," he said sheepishly, smiling. "Call me Carter."

"Carter, eh?" Lavitz said. "Weird name," he chuckled.

"And Lavitz isn't?"

At this, the warrior grinned. He turned back to his mother. "It's been such a long time since I've seen you! How've you been?" he asked her.

"Wonderful! And even better now that you're home visiting again. Hold on, I'll go make you some tea." She began to stride into the kitchen, and after a moment or so, Carter could hear the clinking of dishes for the third time.

Carter had intended to allow Mrs. Slambert and her son ample time to converse to one another, as they obviously had not seen each other in a while—so when Lavitz took a seat by the table and spoke to him, he was a bit surprised. "So how long have you been here, Carter?" he said good-naturedly, turning to face him.

"Um…well, I just arrived a little while ago, actually." He didn't deem it wise to tell him about the whole Earth-morphing-into-Endiness situation just yet, so Carter left it there.

"You did? Any real reason?" Lavitz pursued wonderingly.

Did he have to say it? Carter would rather avoid answering the question.

"…I'm hungry."

Lavitz evidently understood that he didn't want to talk about the situation very much, so he did not continue to pursue to topic. Still, he said knowingly, "Did my father show you here?"

Carter nodded, sure that if he said yes Lavitz would know—just like Mrs. Slambert had—that he'd been magically transported to Bale.

"Yep."

Sure enough, Lavitz nodded, as if he had guessed it all along. Then, he turned to face the kitchen and called out, "I was just talking to His Majesty outside of the church, mom."

"Oh really? What did he say?" she called back. From listening to her tone of voice, Carter thought she seemed highly interested.

"Well, he said to tell you hello…" Lavitz replied slowly, "but more importantly, he wants me back on duty in two hours…. And the place I'm being sent to isn't far away, but of course it isn't neighboring Bale either. It'll take a good hour-and-a-half to get there at a regular—"

"WHAT?" Mrs. Slambert dropped her cups of tea, causing them to shatter immediately as they hit the kitchen floor. She jolted into the dining room and stared incredulously at Lavitz. "But you just got here!" she protested.

"I know, but I must be loyal to what His Majesty says. It's best for Basil. You know that!" Lavitz replied with an air of confidence. Then he added, "I'll be coming right back after my mission has been fulfilled. Not like usual, where I have to go from one place to another without stopping here first."

This seemed to calm her down slightly, but she still did not want him to leave already. "Yes, but it would be nice if you could stay a while before leaving. Right, Carter?"

Carter didn't want to interfere; he merely shrugged. "I don't know—if it's best for your King…."

"I wish I could stay too," Lavitz said quietly, looking at the floor. Then he looked up with even more confidence. "I'll be back in about a day."

Carter felt a bit bad; he could understand how it felt to have a family member hardly ever at home with you. His own dad—

"…well, alright," Mrs. Slambert agreed. "A day it is, then. You'd better be off now. I wish someone could go with you, though, to make sure you're safe…"

Her gaze turned on Carter, who saw what was coming.

"Oh, no—I couldn't. I don't know anything about—"

Lavitz seemed to think it wasn't a good idea either. "—no, I think I'd better be going alone, mom. You have to have good experience to serve for Basil! It's dangerous!"

"But all of the other people who were magically sent here were of good physical and mental strength! Carter must, too, or I doubt he'd have been sent here! Who would bother send a weakling to another world?"

Carter gawked at her. _She's telling all my business! _"But still—"

But now that he looked at Lavitz again, it seemed like he too was considering this. After a bit of thinking, he said, "Maybe you're right. I think the king would want me to have company on my way there anyway."

"What? No! I don't even have a weapon or anything!" Carter exclaimed. _This is too much! _he thought wildly, trying to come up with more reasons for not going. Well, for one thing, he surely wasn't about to risk his _life_ doing this.

But Lavitz seemed to know what he was thinking.

"Don't worry, it's not a life-risking event. If it were, it wouldn't only last a day," Lavitz reassured him. But this was not necessarily true, Carter thought.

"Are you sure I—"

"Yes, go with him!" Mrs. Slambert exclaimed.

"Isn't there something I should do to get ready for—?"

"No, it's all right, it's nothing like that," Lavitz said in what he apparently thought was an encouraging tone. "You'll be fine!"

"So, I'm just going to—"

"He needs the company," Mrs. Slambert said.

"Do you think—?"

"Alright, then it's decided." Lavitz had obviously completely made up his mind on the subject and was not going to change it. "We'll be back soon, Carter, don't worry."

"So—"

"This way!" Lavitz pointed at the door.

"Uh—"

Lavitz and his mother both proceeded to shove Carter through the door.

"Hey! Wait a minute—!"

"We'll go get you a weapon at the weapon shop, if that's what you're worried about," Lavitz said from behind him, still pushing him forward.

Carter was two feet from the door now; Lavitz opened it.

"Hold on!"

"Nope, no time to waste, my dear," Mrs. Slambert shouted from behind. Things were happening too fast.

"WAIT!"

And with one final shove, Carter was outside, with Lavitz next to him. "I'll see you tomorrow, mom," Lavitz said.

"NO!"

"'Til then," she replied excitedly. "Please watch over my son, Carter."

"But—"

And before Carter could say one more thing, the door slammed shut.

"...damn."

_->->-_

Author's Note- So we're finally getting into the story, huh? But...didn't Lavitz seem almost _too _eager for Carter's help? Hmmm...well, _I_ know. _You_ don't. So let's review so we can get an early update! -cheers- Well, until then, fanficcers.


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